Some Notes on the Historical and Geographical Evidence of Bulgaria and the Bulgarians in William of Tyre’s Historia Ierosolimitana

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Pages: 78-89
DOI: https://doi.org/10.54664/VVPM3443

Abstract:

The present paper analyzes the information found in the history of the Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem written by William, archbishop of Tyre. It is well-known in modern Bulgarian historiography but has only received brief consideration. Therefore, I decided to turn my attention to it once more. This material focuses on two groups of evidence in the aforementioned piece of history. The first one deals with Bulgaria as a region and the terms used for its description. In the other case, the story of the appearance of the Bulgarians in the Balkans and the defeat of Emperor Nicephoros I Genikos in 811 is analyzed. The careful examination of the last one shows that it has been interpreted as related to the establishment of the Bulgarian state in the Balkans and thus has been dismissed as altogether wrong. At the same time, in our opinion, it deals with the Bulgarian expansion of the early ninth century and is thus generally credible. It shows the 12th-century author as well-informed about Bulgaria and its past as an independent state. It is worth noting that William visited southwestern Bulgaria in 1168, as part of an embassy to the emperor Manuel I Komnenos, a fact that has remained unnoticed by modern scholars.

Keywords:

William of Tyre, Historia Ierosolimitana, Medieval Bulgaria, Bulgaria and the Crusades.

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